Billionaire Sam Adams founder created a program that's like speed dating for mentors

Boston Beer Company
founder and chairman Jim Koch with ChuckAlek cofounders Grant
Fraley and Marta Jankowska.Courtesy
of the Boston Beer Company

There was a day in 2007 when Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch
and a team of his employees had just finished painting a local
community center, but instead of feeling fulfilled, he felt like
he had just wasted everybody's time.

"It was one of those 'feel good' things and everybody reacted
positively to it, but I remember walking back to my car,
thinking, 'You know, I don't feel that great about what we just
did,'" he said.

Koch explained to Business Insider that he loved the
idea of using the success fueled by his Samuel Adams beer brand
to help others, but he felt like there was a better way to
achieve it than amateur renovations.

"What's exciting about being an entrepreneur is that you add
value, hopefully in new ways," he said. "And what bothered me
about that day is we probably spent $20,000 worth of management
time to do $3,000 worth of mediocre painting. And that wasn't, at
least to me, adding value."

That's when he decided to develop a new approach to charitable
ventures, and the Brewing
the American Dream program was born the next year.

Through the program, entrepreneurs in the food and beverage and
hospitality industries can attend free "speed coaching" sessions
or apply for loans.

The speed coaching sessions get their names from their similarity
to speed dating.

About 50 people attend one of the several sessions held
throughout the US, spending the first hour of the night getting
to know other entrepreneurs and thinking of questions to ask.
Then they'll meet with a coach affiliated with the Boston Beer
Company or Koch himself. Each coach has a specific area of
expertise and will spend 20 minutes discussing a particular
problem the entrepreneur is facing. The entrepreneur can meet
with up to six coaches.

He said the discussions are focused on practical and specific
advice rather than general maxims or management theory. The idea
for a couple hours of "nuts-and-bolts" knowledge was inspired by
his own experience.

When Koch founded his company in 1984, "I had an MBA from
Harvard, a law degree from Harvard, six or seven years of
management consulting," he said. "But guess
what? I didn't know how to make a sales call. I didn't know how
to design a label. I didn't know how to do a real-estate lead or
set up a payroll. I didn't know how to get publicity for my
business."

Koch meets with an
entrepreneur at a coaching session.Courtesy of the Boston Beer Company

Carlene O'Garro, founder of Delectable Desires Pastries in West
Roxbury, Massachusetts, was the first recipient of a Brewing the
American Dream loan and has developed a close working
relationship with Koch and his team. She said she's gone to two
or three speed coaching sessions in each of the past six years,
attending in search of advice for issues like whether or not to
take a business opportunity or how to deal with a problematic
employee.

O'Garro said the defining characteristics of Koch are that he's
"very casual, very open, and gets straight to the point," and
that this is also the vibe of the coaching sessions. She also
noted that the coaches give very specific advice and make
themselves available to any entrepreneur they meet.

Marta Jankowska, cofounder of San Diego microbrewery ChuckAlek,
was the latest recipient of the annual "Experienceship"
mentorship program for brewers in the Brewing the American Dream
program, and said that Koch's coaching style surprised her.

"I can't believe how quickly he got to the heart of the problem,"
she said. "Within 10 minutes he said, 'These three things are
your problems, and here's how you'll solve them.'"

Through Brewing the American Dream, the Boston Beer Company has
coached more than 4,000 entrepreneurs since 2008, and in
partnership with its microlending partner, Accion, has made about
400 loans totaling $4 million, at a repayment rate of 98.1%.

Koch said that unlike painting a community center, it's a project
that gives him fulfillment and establishes his company as a
leader in the craft brewing industry.

"We discovered that 20 minutes
of solid advice can take people from zero to 80% or 90% of where
they need to be in a particular area," Koch said. "And that's
plenty good."